The Complexities of Syria's Violence

by Anna Haqq

The Syrian events do not belong in the same category as the
Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions. . . .

As the conflict escalates, more voices have entered the web, some on the
side of the government and some not. On Wednesday April 27, radio ShamFM
broadcasted an interview with a woman from the southern city Dar'aa, where
most of the turmoil has been taking place. She talked about how locals from
the city are not able to enter or leave the city. The army has blocked
Dar'aa. She then denounced the "armed terrorists" who have attacked the
army, policemen and civilians, and accordingly, caused the turmoil. She
yelled repeatedly, "We do not want freedom. President Assad gave us freedom
we do not want it. Freedom is the cause of this turmoil." When asked what
the people of Dar'aa want, she yelled out: "We want things to go back to
'normal', when policemen can interrogate predators. We want the old days
when we could walk freely in our city at any time without fear of armed
terrorists. If this is freedom, we do not want it."

The previous day, on April 26, S.N.N (Sham News Network) circulated a video
of a young man from Banias, the coastal city that witnessed violent events
in recent weeks. He addressed the international community in clear English
stating, "we are demonstrating to claim our rights, our justice, our
freedom, and they say we are salafi, we are al-Qaida, we are abu-Sayaf, and
we are terrorists and we want to make an Islamic republic here. I say it is a
big lie, it is a big lie. . . . In Syria, in Banias, in all of Syria,
Christians and Muslims are brothers. In the same street you can see mosques
and churches. Sunnis, Alawi, Kurds, Shia, Druze - we are all brothers, we are
all friends we are all rebels. . . .

Cartoon images of an evil government versus a peaceful population do not
help the Syrian people, and only provide fodder for those who believe that
they must intervene to help along a pliant population. . . .